ICC T20 World Cup 2022: CSA To Review South Africa's T20 World Cup Elimination

Cricket South Africa will evaluate the national men’s team of South Africa’s performance at the T20 World Cup after they were eliminated at the group stage following a shocking loss to the Netherlands, with the goal of moving on and not dwelling on the past. 

South Africa are in a strong position on the World Test Championship table in contrast to their white-ball travails and hopes to make a push for the final with a strong series in their Australian return later in the year.

It Is Important That We Review What Has Happened: Enoch Nkwe

“It is important that we review what has happened. We are in the process of putting a panel together to ensure the review is very clinical. But the focus is hitting the reset button and not dwelling on the past. It’s important that we close a chapter and look at what lies ahead,” Enoch Nkwe, South Africa’s director of cricket (DOC), said after the team’s arrival from Australia as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.  

Prior to a three-Test series in Australia, Nkwe, who took over as DOC in July after serving as Mark Boucher’s assistant coach, has already selected Malibongwe Maketa as South Africa’s interim coach and will soon begin the succession planning for Boucher’s permanent replacement. 

Boucher resigned from his post to play for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL with one year left on his contract. There won’t be any abrupt changes to South Africa’s organisational structure, since white-ball skipper Temba Bavuma hasn’t made up his mind on his future. 

Following South Africa’s defeat on Sunday, Bavuma vowed he wouldn’t be swayed by his emotions. Three days later, following the team’s inability to advance to the semifinals, he made a comment. 

“The emotions are not as raw, but in terms of the disappointment and the disbelief, that’s still there, It’s going to take me a couple of days,” Bavuma said. 

The first round of domestic first-class matches, which start on Thursday despite the fact that there are just three rounds before the Australian Tests and each side only plays seven games, will be given some rest before it is decided when the players will resume play. 

The Test team, which is presently ranked second in the World Test Championship (WTC) points standings, will be where they will spend the majority of their time.

Their performance in the Australian Test series will be crucial in determining if they will have a chance at the WTC final in June, at which time South Africa, which is presently ranked 11th on that table, may also end up competing in the 50-over World Cup Qualifier. 

South Africa Has Been Able To Compete And Try And Win Games: Enoch Nkwe

Since former CEO Thabang Moroe opted to reform the coaching system and establish a team director, who was then swiftly replaced by a coach, Boucher, Nkwe has first-hand knowledge of the ups and downs of South Africa’s last three years. 

Prior to his resignation due to concerns with the team’s culture, he had almost two years of experience as Boucher’s team director. During the disastrous 2019 tour to India, he served as the team’s interim director. Graeme Smith was replaced as the DOC by Boucher after his departure when he returned in an overseeing function. 

Nkwe said he wouldn’t use it as an excuse when asked whether he thought all of the off-field problems had an effect on the squad. 

“One thing I have been proud of this team over the last couple of years is that they’ve been able to go on the park and compete and try and win games.

They’ve been able to close off all the noise and whatever is happening off the field. Somehow we found a way to get to a point where we remain competitive. I believe the team has come through that very well,” he said.  

He admitted that the United States’ elimination from the World Cup was unfortunate and that someone, presumably the CSA, ought to take responsibility. 

“We will always take full accountability. When the results are poor, there will be fingers pointed at the organisation in terms of what has happened in the past and whether there was enough support.

Whether the team loses or wins, we are always going to be supporting the team and asking ourselves questions about what more we can do,” Nkwe said. 

Whether he agreed with the decision to keep out-of-form guys like Kagiso Rabada and bench in-form players like Reeza Hendricks was something he did not want to talk about. 

“I don’t get involved in selection but there will be a clear strategy going forward. How do we prepare better for World Cups coming?” he added with an ICC event every year for the next eight years.  

We Are Now At The Point Where We Can Make A Difference: Enoch Nkwe

It’s easy to assume that no one genuinely knows the answers because they have never won a World Cup, but Nkwe has made it clear that he will look for them. 

“There is a culture we are driving internally to make sure we put cricket in a good healthy space. There’s a lot of work behind the scenes and what we are all working towards is getting our national teams to reach No.1 and win World Cups.

We are now at the point where we can make a difference and that will be our focus. There are so many opportunities as an organisation to change it all. Hopefully next year we can be in a different position celebrating our team winning a World Cup,” he concluded. 

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